Improvement intension-regulators for sewing-machines



G. HALL, Jr. Tension-Regulator for Sewing-Machines.

No. 223,133. Patented Dec. 30,1379.

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N. PETERS, PHOTO-LJTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GABDINER HALL, JR, OF SOUTH WILLINGTON, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN TENSION-REGULATORS FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,133, dated December30, 1879 application filed December 31, 1878.

To all whom t't may concern Be it known that I, GARDINER HALL, J r., ofSouth Willington, in the county of Tolland and State of Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tension- Regulatorsfor Sewing-lllachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in tension devices for theneedle-thread of sewing-machines, its object being to enable the use ofspools of large size containing a great length of thread, and to therebyprevent loss of time in changing spools to replenish the supply ofthread; further, to obviate the necessity of thread dealers andmanufacturers keeping in stock a great variety of sizes of spools, byrendering all sizes alike easily unwound, and therefore equallydesirable to operatives.

In manufacturing establishment-s using sewing-machines it is, of course,desirable that there shall be as little occasion as possible forstoppage of the machines; but where small spools are used they areeasily emptied, and stoppage must frequently be made to replace them.

The use of large spools containing great lengths of thread hasheretofore been found impracticable on account of the great variation ofthe resistance to their unwindin For instance, a spool containing twothousand four hundred yards of No. 30 cotton thread, when first placedupon the ordinary spool-spindle of a sewing-machine, requires a force tounwind it and draw off the thread which causes a very strong tension onsaid thread, on account of the weight of the spool; but when a singlecoil or layer of thread has been removed the weight of the spool ismaterially decreased, and the consequent decrease of the needlethreadtension requires that the shuttle-tension shall be regulated tocorrespond thereto; otherwise the shuttle-thread will draw theneedle-thread entirely through the material, while the saidshuttle-thread will lie straight along the surface.

In small light spools holding about two hundred yards of thread thedraft is practically the same during the whole unwinding, and the timeconsumed in placing twelve of these spools in use upon a machine hasbeen found'so far less than the time lost in regulating the tensiondevices for one large spool of two thousand four hundred yards that, asbefore said, the use of large spools of all numbers of thread has beenfound impracticable.

In fine numbers a single coil or layer of thread will not weigh so muchas a layer or coil of a coarse number, and consequently the succeed eachother so rapidly as in using coarse numbers; but they are too frequentto permit hitherto the profitable use of large spools.

In endeavoring to obviate the disadvantages heretofore attendant uponthe use of large spools upon sewing-machines, and to render the draft onthe unwinding thread of such spools uniform throughout, my inventionconsists, first, in the combination, with a spool, a stud for holdingthe spool stationary while the thread is delivered over its head, astationary eye for the passage of the thread to a sewing-machine, and abent arm provided with a thread-eye, of a plug constructed to beinserted into the central opening of the spool, and beheld rigidlytherein by frictional contact, and having a central aperture forreceiving and permanently connecting with the bent end of the arm whichcarries the threadeye, whereby said arm is free to rotate in its seat,but prevented from having any vertical movement, as will be hereinaftermore fully described second, the combination of a spool, a stud on thebasc'plate, a stationary eye, a plug having a central socket andprovided with a head or disk, and an arm having its inner end bent tofit in said socket, while the horizontal portion of said arm is providedat its outer end with a thread-eye, and is supported by said disk orhead, as will more fully hereinafter appear; third, in the combination,with the revolving bent arm and the plug having the annularly-grooveddisk, of an adjust able tension device arranged to operate on said bentarm, as hereinafter set forth.

Heretofore a hollow cylinder for receiving and holding a spool or bobbinfor delivering eyed and weighted revolving flier has been employed, saidcylinder being permanently fixed upon the fioorin g supporting a loom,or upon the framing of the 100111. itself 5 but in required adjustmentsof tension would not yarn to a loom through the medium of an 2 aaanaasuch. the hollow cylinder has been made of a length equal to or inexcess of the length of the spool or bobbin, so that the bent arm ofsaid flier could be placed in the top of the hollow cylinder, and thusrevolve over the head and around the head of the spool, and thus unwindthe yarn for delivery to the loom. This construction necessitates aspool support of alength greater than that of the spool, for otherwisethe flier would rest and drag upon the face of the spool; and, further,it requires a weighting of the flier to hold it in its seats and preventclimbing or vertical movement or displacement when under a rapid rotarymotion, and thus a drag on the yarn occurs;

and, further, but one length of spool or bobbin can be employed, unlessthere be provided a series of hollow cylinders of a length equal to thevarious lengths of spools or bobbins now in use.

By my invention the stud will receive and hold in a stationary positionby frictional contact any of the various sizes or lengths of spools, forthe bent arm with its eye, which is an eyed flier, has no connectionwith said stud, but it is connected with the plug that is inserted inthe end of the spool, so as to be incapable of accidental detachmentwhen the' plug is detached from the spool, or when the fiieris under arapid rotary motion, delivering the thread over the head of the spool tothe needle or". a sewing-machine through an eye fixed above the spool.

Ido not claim anything shown in the Letters Patent No. 205,320, rantedJune 25, 1878, to Turner.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view ofmyinvention as when in use, though the precise form of the various partsis not material. Fig. 2 is a view, in elevation, of the spool-plug andrevolving arm. Fig. 3 is a vertical central section of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 isa perspective view of a modified form of the top plug of the spool andtension device of the revolving arm. Fig. 5 is a central section of Fig.4. Fi 6 is a top view of the plug of the spool, showing the groove, aportion of the revolving arm, and an elastic tension device.

The letter A indicates the base-plate, from the center of which rises ascrew-threaded stud, a, upon which the spoolB is screwed and heldfirmly. Through this base-plate is a hole for a screw, 0, by which saidplate is secured to a table. From one side of the base-plate rises astandard, D, having its upper end curved, and terminating above thecenter of the spool in a thread-eye, d.

The letter E designates a plug, of suitable material, projecting fromthe center of a disk, F, having an annular concentric groove or recess,f, in its face.

Through the center of the plug E and disk F is a small opening, in whichfits loosely the downwardly-bent end 9 of an arm, G, which extendsoutward beyond the edge of the spoolhead, and is bent downward a shortdistance,

terminating in an eye or coil, 71 for the passage of a thread. Said armhas also athreadguide, h, at the .elbow, where it is bent downward atits outer end.

The bent arm G is permanently connected with the plug E, and said arm isperfectly free to rapidly rotate, but is prevented from having anyvertical movement in the plug by reason of its connection with thelatter, this connection in the present example being made by simplybending the end of the bent arm so as to form a shoulder. (See Figs. 3and 5.)

When in use the base-plate A is secured by the screw 0 to a table inconvenient position. The spool, which may be of any desired size, isfixed upon the stud a. The plug E is insorted in the top of the spool,with the arm G projecting outward beyond the spool head. The thread isthen led from the spool through the eye h and guide it, up through theeye (I, and thence to the threadguides and needle of the sewing-machine.When a draft is exerted upon the thread the. arm G revolves, followingthe thread around the spool, unwinding and holding it off clear of thespool-head, the spool remaining perfectly stationary, so that its weightor size or the quantity of thread upon the spool does not affect theoperation of the invention, as the thread is delivered with the sameuniformity, whether the spool be heavy or light, large or small, andwhether it is afull spool or partially empty.

In the groove fin the disk F is arranged a segmental pad, t, of leatheror other suitable material, and in the top of this pad is a notch toreceive the arm G. This pad, as the arm G revolves, follows the groovef, and serves to counteract the momentum of said arm, thus preventing itfrom unwinding the thread too rapidly. The tension of the thread is alsoregulated by increasing or decreasing the length or thickness of thispad.

In Figs. 4 and 5 is illustrated modification of the top spool-plug, itbeing shown at E screw-threaded and conical, so as to be firmly attachedto spools having differentsized bores. Radially through the disk F istapped a screw-threaded hole, in the outer portion of which fits ascrew, it, and in the inner portion is a sliding plug, 1. Between thisscrew 70 and the plug 1 is a spiral spring,

m, and by increasing or decreasing the compression of this spring bymeans of the screw 70 the plug 1 is caused to bear with more orlessforce upon the downwardly-bent portion 9 of the arm G, thus regulatingthe resistance to V the revolution of the said arm.

Although I have in Fig. 3 shown the stud a of the base-platescrew-threaded, it may be smooth and retain the spool by friction; or itmay have one or more longitudinal ribs or serrations to assist inretaining the spool from turning. This stud a may also be extended belowthe base-plate and he screw-threaded, so as to form the means ofattaching the baseplate to the table, in which case the screw 0 may bedispensed with.

In practiceitis found that veryfew spools of thread are twisted exactlyas they should be in order to loop properly without twisting, aslighti'urthertwistingora slightuntwisting being desirable. Now, the armG acts upon the thread somewhat in the nature of a flier inspinning-machines, and when it is found, in usingthe device, that thethread is too tightly twisted it is only necessary to reverse the endsof the spool, when the arm will travel in the I opposite direction, andat each revolution will take one twist out of the thread, so that thecommon fault of too tight and too loose twist ing can be readilyremedied by the use of my invention at the will of the operator.

What I claim isl. The combination, with the spool-stud for holding thespool stationary while the thread is delivered over its head, astationary eye for the passage of the thread to a sewing-machine, and abent arm provided with a thread-eye, of a plug constructed to beinserted into the central opening of the spool and be held rigidlytherein by frictional contact and having a central aperture forreceiving and permanently connecting with the bent end of the arm whichcarries the thread-eye, substantially as described, whereby said arm isfree to rotate in its seat, but prevented from having any verticalmovement, as set forth.

2. The combination, with the spool, the stud on the base-plate forholding the spool, and

the stationary eye for delivering the thread therefrom, of the plug E,having a central socket and provided with head or disk F, and the arm G,having its inner end bent to fit in said socket,'while the horizontalportion of said arm is provided at its outer end with a thread-eye, andis supported by said disk or head, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the revolving bent arm G and the plug havingthe annularlygrooved disk F, of an adjustabletension device arranged tooperate upon said arm, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand inthe presence of the subscribing witnesses.

- G. HALL, JR.

Witnesses JAMES L. NORRIS, ALBERT H. NoRRIs.

